The Whale Wins can be found in the Fremont Collective along with the relocated Joule restaurant and Evo’s flagship store—selling skis, skates, and snowboards. (Word is that there’s a skate park in the basement.) While there will soon be patio space out front, the action is currently in the L-shaped dining room, where there’s also a friendly bar (serving predominantly French wines and cocktails) and an open kitchen. Olives, salt, and Boat Street Pickles are among the many items on pantry shelves. White walls and wood logs contribute to a country cottage feel, with bowls of food out on the counter begging to be sampled. You might find yourself with an urge to snag a sardine or some roasted fennel…

The menu is simply divided in two halves: Pantry and Oven, with several items available as large or small portion. Pantry currently consists of small, shareable plates like Salumeria Biellese Culatello & Butter, Vegetable Hummus with Braised Greens & Pickled Peppers on Toast, and Rogue Flora Nelle Blue Cheese & Ballard Bee Company Honey. But with the wood oven a big, visible feature of the restaurant, it’s hard to resist the roasted meats and vegetables it produces. Look for such things as marrow bones, clams, cauliflower, and even Butter Roasted Zucchini Bread. And if anything also includes Erickson’s renowned Boat Street Pickles, it won’t just be the whale that wins.

For photos of a number of dishes (including Whole Roasted Trout with Roasted Lemons & Walnut Sauce, pictured above) and further information, check out the Serious Eats story, here.

About Jay

Jay Friedman is a freelance food writer and gastronaut—global explorer of things gourmet and, well, not-so-gourmet. Born and raised in New York (and missing those back-east bagels), Jay says he came to Seattle in 1999 because "there's great produce here." He’s dabbled in classes at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, taken cooking classes around the world, cooked as a Vermont inn-sitter, worked as a waiter, and evolved into an omnivoracious eater.